U.S. patent number 9,571,992 [Application Number 15/248,808] was granted by the patent office on 2017-02-14 for priority message management.
This patent grant is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. The grantee listed for this patent is INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to James Hewitt, Colin I. Holyoake, Richard Postlethwaite, Caroline J. Thomas.
United States Patent |
9,571,992 |
Hewitt , et al. |
February 14, 2017 |
Priority message management
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, computer
program products, and systems for priority message management. In
one embodiment, users are associated with one or more identified
networks, wherein the users connect to the one or more identified
networks using one or more mobile devices. Embodiments of the
present invention can detect the presence or absence of an
associated user, and responsive to detecting a user's absence, can
increase an amount of priority of a user's communications to a
mobile device of a different user having an enabled screening
feature. Increasing the amount of priority of users that have been
identified as absent from the identified network can ensure
important messages are delivered.
Inventors: |
Hewitt; James (Eastleigh,
GB), Holyoake; Colin I. (Braishfield, GB),
Postlethwaite; Richard (Salisbury, GB), Thomas;
Caroline J. (Eastleigh, GB) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation (Armonk, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
55860185 |
Appl.
No.: |
15/248,808 |
Filed: |
August 26, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
15077111 |
Mar 22, 2016 |
9456081 |
|
|
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14976377 |
May 10, 2016 |
9338675 |
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14845583 |
Sep 4, 2015 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W
4/12 (20130101); H04W 24/02 (20130101); G06K
9/00228 (20130101); H04W 72/10 (20130101); H04M
3/436 (20130101); G06K 9/00288 (20130101); H04M
3/42 (20130101); H04M 3/42374 (20130101); H04W
88/02 (20130101); G06K 9/00221 (20130101); H04M
2203/6054 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
3/42 (20060101); H04W 24/02 (20090101); H04W
4/12 (20090101); H04W 72/10 (20090101); G06K
9/00 (20060101); H04W 88/02 (20090101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Whitwam, R., "You Can Now Allow Just Priority Notifications When
You Don't Want to Be Disturbed, or Avoid Getting interrupted
Altogether", [Lollipop Feature Spotlight], Oct. 17, 2014, pp. 1-9,
<http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/10/17/lollipop-feature-spotlight-yo-
u-can-now-set-notifications-as-priority-instead-of-just-on-or-off/>.
cited by applicant .
"Automatic silent mode disabling mechanism based on the frequency
of incoming calls from the same number", An IP.com Prior Art
Database Technical Disclosure, Authors et. al.: Disclosed
Anonymously, IP.com No. 000225207, IP.com Electronic Publication:
Jan. 30, 2013, pp. 1-2, <http://null/IPCOM/000225207>. cited
by applicant .
"Nights Keeper (do not disturb)", Android Apps on Google Play, pp.
1-4, printed on Jul. 15, 2015,
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nightskeeper&hl=en&-
gt;. cited by applicant .
IBM Appendix P.: "IBM Patents or Patent Applications to be Treated
as Related", dated Sep. 28, 2016, 2 pages. cited by applicant .
Hewitt et al., "Priority Message Management", U.S. Appl. No.
14/845,583, filed Sep. 4, 2015, pp. 1-23. cited by applicant .
Hewitt et al., "Priority Message Management", U.S. Appl. No.
14/976,377, filed Dec. 21, 2015, pp. 1-19. cited by applicant .
Hewitt et al., "Priority Message Management", U.S. Appl. No.
15/077,111, filed Mar. 22, 2016, pp. 1-19. cited by
applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Washington; Erika
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Restauro; Brian M.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A computer system comprising: one or more computer processors;
one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media; and
program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory
computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of
the one or more computer processors, the program instructions
comprising: program instructions to associate a first user with one
or more identified networks, wherein the first user connects to the
one or more identified networks using one or more mobile devices;
program instructions to detect the first user's absence from the
one or more identified networks, wherein the program instructions
to detect the first user's absence from the one or more identified
networks comprise the following: program instructions to identify
the one or more mobile devices associated with the first user are
not connected to the one or more identified networks, program
instructions to, responsive to receiving facial recognition input
from a source other than the one or more identified networks,
compare the facial recognition input to a picture of the first user
to determine that the facial recognition input matches the picture
of the first user, and program instructions to, responsive to
detecting the first user's absence from the one or more identified
networks, disable an enabled screening feature of a mobile device
associated with a second user; program instructions to permit one
or more messages to be sent from the first user to the second user
based, at least in part, on the disabled screening feature of the
mobile device associated with the second user; and program
instructions to, responsive to detecting the first user is present
on the one or more identified networks, re-enable the screening
feature of a mobile device associated with the second user.
Description
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates generally to the field of mobile
phones, and more particularly to prioritizing calls on mobile
phones.
Mobile devices such as cellular phones support a wide variety of
services such as text messaging, multimedia message service (MMS),
email, Internet access, short range wireless communications (e.g.,
Bluetooth) in addition to the ability to make and receive telephone
calls. Mobile devices typically have screening features to enable a
user to ignore some calls while receiving others.
SUMMARY
Embodiments of the present invention provides methods, computer
program products, and systems for priority message management. In
one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided
comprising: associating a first user with one or more identified
networks, wherein the first user connects to the one or more
identified networks using one or more mobile devices; detecting the
first user's absence from the one or more identified networks; and
responsive to detecting the first user's absence from the one or
more identified networks, increasing an amount of priority of the
first user's communications to a second user.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of computing environment, in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating operational steps of altering a
prioritization schema, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating operational steps for screening
a message, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention; and
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of internal and external components of
the computer systems of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments of the present invention recognize that screening
features need improvement. In some instances, communications such
as phone calls may still be allowed past a screening feature
despite there not being an actual emergency. For example, a
coworker that has been added to a "favorites" list can bypass the
screening feature and still contact the user for a non-emergency
event and subsequently wake the user. In other instances, a user on
a "favorites" list of a different user may lose the device
associated with a number placed on the "favorites" list of the
different user and would be left without a way to contact the
different user having a "do not disturb" feature activated.
Embodiments of the present invention provide solutions for
improving screening features by detecting the presence or absence
of a registered user to a known, registered network. In this
manner, as discussed in greater detail in the specification,
embodiments of the present invention can disable an activated
screening feature (i.e., a priority mode) of a registered device to
ensure important messages are delivered.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of computing environment 100,
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Computing environment 100 includes computer system 102, mobile
device 108, and mobile device 110. Computer system 102, mobile
device 108, and mobile device 110 can be desktop computers, laptop
computers, specialized computer servers, or any other computer
systems known in the art. In certain embodiments, computer system
102, mobile device 108, and mobile device 110 represent computer
systems utilizing clustered computers and components to act as a
single pool of seamless resources when accessed through network
106. For example, such embodiments may be used in data center,
cloud computing, storage area network (SAN), and network attached
storage (NAS) applications. In certain embodiments, computer system
102, mobile device 108, and mobile device 110 represent virtual
machines. In general, computer system 102, mobile device 108, and
mobile device 110 are representative of any electronic devices, or
combination of electronic devices, capable of executing
machine-readable program instructions, as described in greater
detail with regard to FIG. 4.
Computer system 102 includes screening application 104. Screening
application 104 communicates with mobile device 108 and 110 (via a
user interface, not shown) to activate screening features and alter
prioritization schema based, at least in part, on device
registration and connectivity to a known network, as will be
discussed in greater detail with regard to FIGS. 2-3. In other
embodiments, screening application 104 can be stored locally on
mobile device 108 and 110.
In this embodiment, screening application 104 can register mobile
devices (e.g., mobile devices 108 and 110) to a network; monitor
presence or absence of a user based, at least in part, on the
registered mobile devices and the connection of the registered
mobile devices to the registered network; and alter a
prioritization schema (e.g., a priority mode, screening feature, do
not disturb mode, etc.) so that only messages sent from registered
devices unconnected to the known network will bypass the screening
feature. For example, two mobile devices A and B, belonging to
person alpha and beta respectively, could be registered with
screening application 104 and connected to a known network (e.g.,
their home Wi-Fi). Person alpha has activated the screening feature
on device A (i.e., person alpha does not want to be disturbed
unless it is an emergency from a family member/close friend/etc.).
Person beta leaves the home to meet up with friends and
subsequently needs to contact person alpha (for example, for a ride
home). Because device B is registered and no longer connected to
the home Wi-Fi, a phone call from person beta, originating from
device B, will be pushed through and bypass the screening feature
activated on device A. In other words, person B can still reach
person A despite the enabled screening feature on person A's
device. For illustrative purposes, the following discussion is made
with respect to computer system 102 facilitating communications
between mobile device 108 and 110, it being understood that
computer system 102 can facilitate communications between other
mobile devices that are not shown.
In other embodiments, screening application 104 can monitor the
presence or absence of a known user associated with a registered
device and disable an enabled screening feature of a different
registered device to allow messages to be pushed through to the
different registered device from an unregistered device, as
discussed in greater detail with regard to FIGS. 2 and 3. For
example, two mobile devices A and B, belonging to person alpha and
beta, respectively could be registered with screening application
104 as being connected to a known network (e.g., their home Wi-Fi).
Person alpha has activated the screening feature on device A (i.e.,
person alpha does not want to be disturbed unless it is an
emergency). Screening application 104 can detect that person beta
leaves the house (and is subsequently disconnected from the known
network). At some point person beta loses registered device B and
needs to make a phone call to person alpha. Screening application
104 can, responsive to receiving a message intended for person
alpha, push the message through to person alpha's device
(registered device A) upon determining that person beta has left
the home and registered device B has been disconnected from the
network.
Mobile device 108 and 110 communicate with screening application
104 via network 106 to receive and screen messages. In general,
mobile device 108 and 110 can be implemented with any device
capable of sending and receiving messages. The term "messages", as
used herein, refers to any communication medium known in the art.
For example, a message can be a phone call, text message, e-mail,
video call, video message, multimedia message service (MMS)
message, etc. The phrase, "originating message device", as used
herein, refers to a communication device (e.g., mobile device 108)
that is used, for illustrative purposes, as a device that initiates
a message. The phrase, "receiving message device", as used herein,
refers to a communication device (e.g., mobile device 110) that is
used as the device that receives a message. The receiving message
device has a priority mode enabled. For illustrative purposes, this
embodiment may be discussed with respect to mobile device 108
serving as the originating message device and mobile device 110
serving as the receiving message device. It should be understood
that either mobile device can serve as the originating message
device while the other serves as the receiving message device.
A "priority mode" refers to a mobile device feature that allows the
mobile device to screen messages on behalf of a user. For example,
in some embodiments a priority mode may enable a mobile device to
receive some messages while ignoring others. In other embodiments,
a priority mode may allow a loud ringtone for some messages while
using a vibration alert for non-priority messages. In this
embodiment, the priority mode is based, at least in part, on the
registration of an originating message device and connectivity to a
designated network (e.g., network 112), as discussed in greater
detail with regard to FIGS. 2 and 3. In other embodiments, a
priority mode may be implemented by any combination of
hardware/software capable of screening messages.
In this embodiment, a priority mode can screen messages based on
the type of message (i.e., phone call, text message, e-mail, video
call, video message, etc.). For example, a priority mode can screen
messages such as phone calls by sending the phone call to voicemail
when enabled. In another example, a priority mode can screen
messages such as email by disabling a ringtone and/or vibration
accompanying a received e-mail.
Networks 106 and 112 can be, for example, a local area network
(LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, or a
combination of the two, and include wired, wireless, or fiber optic
connections. In general, networks 106 and 112 can be any
combination of connections and protocols that will support
communications between computer system 102, mobile device 108, and
mobile device 110, in accordance with a desired embodiment of the
invention. For illustrative purposes, the following discussion is
made with respect to network 106 serving as a cellular network and
network 112 serving as a home network (e.g., Wi-Fi), it being
understood that either can serve as a cellular network or home
network.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart 200 illustrating operational steps of
altering a prioritization schema, in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention.
In step 202, screening application 104 registers one or more users
and devices of the users. In this embodiment, screening application
104 registers the one or more devices by associating the one users
and devices of the users with a designated network and storing a
unique identification ID number for each registered device. For
example, screening application 104 can register two users of the
two mobile devices (e.g., user A and user B) and two mobile devices
(e.g., mobile device 108 and 110) to a network (e.g., network 112).
In this embodiment, users and associated registered devices of
users and registered networks are stored in a table. In other
embodiments, the registered devices and networks can be stored in
any known storage architecture known in the art. In this
embodiment, the registered network can be any user-defined network.
For example, a user may specify that the network be a home Wi-Fi
network, a close family member's Wi-Fi network, etc. Accordingly, a
user can then enable a priority call mode feature on the device of
the user after registering one or more devices and selecting one or
more networks.
In another example, a user may specify a network other than the
home network of the user. For example, a user may designate a
network associated with a loved one (e.g., a parent who lives in a
different neighborhood, city, state, etc.) and register a mobile
device of the loved one to that network.
In yet another example, a user may specify multiple networks
designated as known networks. For example, a parent with mobile
device A may have a child with mobile device B. The parent may
specify their home network as a known network. The parent may also
specify that the child's aunt's network is also a known
network.
In step 204, screening application 104 receives a message. In this
embodiment, screening application 104 receives a message from one
or more devices. For example, screening application 104 can receive
a message from mobile device 110. In other embodiments, screening
application 104 can receive a message from one or more components
of computing environment 100.
In step 206, screening application 104 prioritizes messages based,
at least in part, on the presence or absence of a registered user.
In this embodiment, screening application 104 prioritizes calls
(i.e., alters a prioritization schema) by detecting registered
devices and the presence or absence of a user associated with a
registered device to the known network as discussed in greater
detail with regard to FIG. 3. For example, a user can enable a
priority mode (e.g., a screening feature) that will, by default,
ignore all messages (e.g., a phone call, text message, video call,
etc.) sent to the user's device (e.g., a mobile phone). In this
embodiment, responsive to receiving a message from a registered
device that has lost connectivity to the known network, screening
application 104 can push a message originating from the registered
device through to the receiving message device.
In another embodiment, responsive to receiving a message, screening
application can prioritize a received message by pushing the
message through regardless of the device's registration if the
registered device has lost connectivity to the known network. For
example, two mobile devices A and B, belonging to person alpha and
beta, respectively could be registered with screening application
104 and registered as being connected to a known network (e.g.,
their home Wi-Fi). Person alpha has activated the screening feature
on device A (i.e., person alpha does not want to be disturbed
unless it is an emergency etc.). Person beta leaves the house (and
is subsequently disconnected from the known network) and loses
registered device B and needs to make a phone call to person alpha.
Screening application 104 can, responsive to receiving a message
intended for person alpha, push the message through upon
determining that registered device B has been disconnected from the
network.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart 300 illustrating operational steps for
screening a message, in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention. For example, the operational steps of flowchart
300 can be performed at step 206 of flowchart 200.
In step 302, screening application 104 determines whether the user
is not home. In this embodiment, screening application 104
determines that a user is not home by verifying that the device
(i.e., a registered mobile device associated with a known user) is
no longer connected to the designated network (e.g., network
112).
For example, two mobile devices A and B, belonging to person alpha
and beta respectively, may be registered with screening application
104 and registered as being connected to a known network (e.g.,
their home Wi-Fi). Person alpha has activated the screening feature
on device A (i.e., person alpha does not want to be disturbed
unless it is an emergency from a family member/close friend/etc.).
Subsequently, person beta leaves the home (i.e., travels far enough
to lose connectivity to their home Wi-Fi) and needs to get in
contact with person alpha. Screening application 104 could first
determine whether the device person beta originates the call from
is a registered device. Responsive to determining that the device
person beta originates the call from is a registered device (e.g.,
device B), screening application 104 determines whether the
registered device has lost connection to the registered, known
network.
In another embodiment, screening application 104 can determine that
a user is not home using facial recognition. For example, a user
with a registered device may leave his phone at home (and thus
still maintain connection to the designated network) while still
leaving his home. Screening application 104 can determine that a
registered user is not home responsive to receiving a facial
recognition input that matches the face of the registered user. For
example, screening application 104 can receive a facial recognition
input from a web camera, security camera, etc. that is somewhere
other than the user's home. Responsive to receiving a facial
recognition input, screening application 104 can compare the facial
recognition input to a stored database containing a picture of the
face of the user and determine that the facial recognition input
matches the picture on the stored database.
In yet another embodiment, screening application 104 can determine
that a registered user is not home using smart keys/locks that are
coded to an individual's key or passcode. In some instances, smart
keys/locks may be locked and unlocked via an application on a
user's phone. For example, when leaving home, a user will generally
lock the door to secure the home. In some instances, the door can
be locked using smart keys and/or locks. For example, a smart key
can be coded to an individual registered user. A smart lock (i.e.,
a keypad based lock) could store several passwords associated with
different individuals. Responsive to detecting that an individual
registered user has used his/her key or password to lock the door,
screening application 104 can verify that the user is not home.
If, in step 302, screening application 104 determines that the user
is not home, then, in step 304, screening application 104 pushes
the received message through. In other words, screening application
104 disables the enabled screening feature (i.e., priority mode) to
allow messages (e.g., phone calls, text messages, video calls,
emails, etc.) through to the receiving message device (e.g., mobile
device 108). Accordingly, a user having a screening feature enabled
can now receive messages from unregistered devices.
In this embodiment, screening application 104 can push through a
message responsive to determining that the user is not home
regardless of whether the device that originated the message is
registered. For example, a user having a registered device may lose
his phone and may need to reach his emergency contact (i.e.,
another user having a screening feature enabled) from another
device (e.g., a friend's device whose device is not registered with
screening application 104). Responsive to determining that the user
is not home, screening application 104 can disable the enabled
screening feature of the device belonging to the emergency contact
to allow messages through (e.g., enable the ring tone or vibration
to alert the emergency contact).
In another example, a user having a registered device may be
involved in a traffic accident and may not be able to send a
message to his emergency contact due to injury or unavailability of
the user's phone. Emergency personnel may deduce the user's
emergency contact and instead of using the user's phone, may try
reaching the emergency contact via a landline at a hospital.
Responsive to determining that the user is not home, screening
application 104 can disable the enabled screening feature of the
device belonging to the emergency contact to allow messages
through.
In this embodiment, responsive to determining that user has
subsequently returned home, screening application 104 can re-enable
the screening feature previously activated by the user. For
example, two mobile devices A and B, belonging to person alpha and
beta respectively, may be registered with screening application 104
and be registered as being connected to a known network (e.g.,
their home Wi-Fi). Person alpha has activated the screening feature
on device A (i.e., person alpha does not want to be disturbed
unless it is an emergency from a family member/close friend
etc.).
Subsequently, person beta leaves the home and device B loses charge
(i.e., needs to be connected to a power source because the battery
has no more power). Screening application 104 can identify person
beta is not home by detecting that mobile device B has been
disconnected from the known network. Responsive to detecting that
person beta is not home, screening application 104 can disable the
screening feature activated on mobile device A to enable messages
to be received from any device capable of sending a message
(presumably from person beta).
When person beta returns home and connects mobile device B to a
power source, screening application 104 can confirm that person
beta is at home via the connection of mobile device B to the known
network (e.g., the home Wi-Fi). Responsive to confirming that
person beta is at home, screening application 104 can then
re-enable the screening feature previously activated on mobile
device A by person alpha.
If, in step 302, screening application 104 determines that the user
is at home, then, in step 306, screening application 104 screens
the call. In other words, screening application 104 will not push
the message communication through to the receiving message device
(e.g., mobile device 108). In this embodiment, screening
application 104 screens the received message based, at least in
part, on the communication medium. For example, if the
communication is a phone call, screening application 104 forwards
the call to a voice message of the device of the user. In another
example, if the communication is a text message, screening
application 104 allows the message to be sent but disables the
ringtone or vibration of the device having the screening feature
enabled.
Accordingly, by performing the operational steps of FIG. 3,
screening application 104 alters a prioritization schema to allow
messages to be pushed through to a device having an enabled
screening feature responsive to determining that a user is not
home. In this embodiment, screening application 104 determines that
a user is not home by determining that the registered device has
lost connectivity to the selected, known, network. Altering a
prioritization schema to allow messages to be pushed through to a
device having an enabled screening feature can facilitate
communication of important information despite originating from an
unknown, unregistered device in the event of an emergency. For
example, a person possessing a registered device who may have lost
the registered device can still communicate with his emergency
contact (e.g., his father) despite not having a registered device
that would normally bypass the screening feature enabled on his
emergency contact's phone.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of internal and external components of a
computer system 400, which is representative of the computer
systems of FIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. It should be appreciated that FIG. 4 provides only an
illustration of one implementation and does not imply any
limitations with regard to the environments in which different
embodiments may be implemented. In general, the components
illustrated in FIG. 4 are representative of any electronic device
capable of executing machine-readable program instructions.
Examples of computer systems, environments, and/or configurations
that may be represented by the components illustrated in FIG. 4
include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server
computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, laptop computer
systems, tablet computer systems, cellular telephones (e.g., smart
phones), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,
network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and
distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the
above systems or devices.
Computer system 400 includes communications fabric 402, which
provides for communications between one or more processors 404,
memory 406, persistent storage 408, communications unit 412, and
one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces 414. Communications
fabric 402 can be implemented with any architecture designed for
passing data and/or control information between processors (such as
microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.),
system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware
components within a system. For example, communications fabric 402
can be implemented with one or more buses.
Memory 406 and persistent storage 408 are computer-readable storage
media. In this embodiment, memory 406 includes random access memory
(RAM) 416 and cache memory 418. In general, memory 406 can include
any suitable volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage
media. Software is stored in persistent storage 408 for execution
and/or access by one or more of the respective processors 404 via
one or more memories of memory 406.
Persistent storage 408 may include, for example, a plurality of
magnetic hard disk drives. Alternatively, or in addition to
magnetic hard disk drives, persistent storage 408 can include one
or more solid state hard drives, semiconductor storage devices,
read-only memories (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memories
(EPROM), flash memories, or any other computer-readable storage
media that is capable of storing program instructions or digital
information.
The media used by persistent storage 408 can also be removable. For
example, a removable hard drive can be used for persistent storage
408. Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb
drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer
onto another computer-readable storage medium that is also part of
persistent storage 408.
Communications unit 412 provides for communications with other
computer systems or devices via a network (e.g., network 106). In
this exemplary embodiment, communications unit 412 includes network
adapters or interfaces such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless
Wi-Fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or
other wired or wireless communication links. The network can
comprise, for example, copper wires, optical fibers, wireless
transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers
and/or edge servers. Software and data used to practice embodiments
of the present invention can be downloaded to computer system 102
through communications unit 412 (e.g., via the Internet, a local
area network or other wide area network). From communications unit
412, the software and data can be loaded onto persistent storage
408.
One or more I/O interfaces 414 allow for input and output of data
with other devices that may be connected to computer system 400.
For example, I/O interface 414 can provide a connection to one or
more external devices 420 such as a keyboard, computer mouse, touch
screen, virtual keyboard, touch pad, pointing device, or other
human interface devices. External devices 420 can also include
portable computer-readable storage media such as, for example,
thumb drives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards.
I/O interface 414 also connects to display 422.
Display 422 provides a mechanism to display data to a user and can
be, for example, a computer monitor. Display 422 can also be an
incorporated display and may function as a touch screen, such as a
built-in display of a tablet computer.
The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer
program product. The computer program product may include a
computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer
readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to
carry out aspects of the present invention.
The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that
can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction
execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for
example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a
magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an
electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or
any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of
more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium
includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk,
a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static
random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a
floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or
raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon,
and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable
storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being
transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely
propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves
propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,
light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical
signals transmitted through a wire.
Computer readable program instructions described herein can be
downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a
computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or
external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a
local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network.
The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical
transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,
switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter
card or network interface in each computing/processing device
receives computer readable program instructions from the network
and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage
in a computer readable storage medium within the respective
computing/processing device.
Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations
of the present invention may be assembler instructions,
instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine
instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware
instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object
code written in any combination of one or more programming
languages, including an object oriented programming language such
as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural
programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or
similar programming languages. The computer readable program
instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on
the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on
the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on
the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry
including, for example, programmable logic circuitry,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays
(PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by
utilizing state information of the computer readable program
instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to
perform aspects of the present invention.
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable
program instructions.
These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a
processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,
or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a
machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the
processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in
a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a
programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable
storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an
article of manufacture including instructions which implement
aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block
diagram block or blocks.
The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto
a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other
device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on
the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to
produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions
which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or
other device implement the functions/acts specified in the
flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the
architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products
according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this
regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent
a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one
or more executable instructions for implementing the specified
logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the
functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in
the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in
fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of
the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations
of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can
be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that
perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations
of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present
invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are
not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments
disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to
those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope
and spirit of the invention. The terminology used herein was chosen
to best explain the principles of the embodiment, the practical
application or technical improvement over technologies found in the
marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to
understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
* * * * *
References